People

So you can put faces with names, here's some photos I took with Kim's camera. These photos were taken when we went out for 80's night at Tommy Africas. Rico doesn't usually rock the mohawk.

Click on the photos to see the full-size version.

Left to Right: Jee Hoon, Michael, Hiromi, Rico, Lars in the back of the bus.

Kim and Alicia.

Left to Right: Alicia, Mette, Kim, Jee Hoon, Michael, Hiromi, Rico, Lars, Sung se, Me

Lars-tastic.

Rico Rocks the 80s (and the Smirnoff).

Sung se, Hiromi, Jee Hoon

Mette, making the most delicious bread ever.

Toilet water

Andrew: "Mette, I thought you were going to bed."

Mette: "I had to fill my water bottle, and the toilet water tasted like crap."

Andrew: "Well yeah..."

Mette: "No! No, I meant the water from the sink in the bathroom."

Ants on a Log

Peanut butter is the most convenient calorie. It can be put on any dish to up the caloric/fat value, and applying it to almost any food makes that food better. If you live in the US, you already know this.

But my habit of liberally applying peanut butter to 35% of the food that enters my mouth has been raising eyebrows in this international house. Out of 8 people, only one had tasted peanut butter before. Consequently, my practice of smearing it across everything from peanuts to almonds to celery arouses curiosities.

So I made everyone try ants on a log, which to me is the most normal and delicious thing a person can make if all the ingredients are handy. Reactions were mixed. Rico loved it, Mette spat it promptly in the trash, Jee Hoon was lukewarm about it, Lars and Michael liked it, but they're garbage disposals anyway.

Phew...

For those of you who haven't heard me whine about it, I've been working on a scholarship application. What I'm applying for is called a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship, and the location to which I chose to apply was Madrid, Spain. If I get the award, it will pay for me to travel to and live in Spain for 9.5 months, beginning September 15 of 2009. My responsibilites would be to help teach English in a public school in Madrid.

The application was quite intense as the award is understandably competitive. Anyway, I finally turned it in today, so for the first time in several weeks I can take a deep breath. Phew. The application requires two essays, a statement of purpose and a personal statement, both of which were brutal to write. Pretty much the last thing I've wanted to do the past week is sit in front of the computer and type. Long story short, I'm planning to post quite a bit in the next couple days to make up for it.

As for now, here's a little sample of living in an international house. Let me set the scene: Rico, (you'll remember he's the German fellow I met in the street who told me about the house) has taken it upon himself to make small but important renovations to the house. Today he built four extra sets of shelves in the kitchen, and it looks great. I helped him a bit this evening. He's a very good carpenter, but the tools in the house are crap. So, after he finished sharpening the rusty old hand saw with a file, he began to saw through a piece of wood to make a shelf. In doing so, he cut himself. These are his exact words.

Rico: "I saw me in the leg" (pointing at a bleeding gash on his lower right quad)
Andrew: (cracks up laughing)
Rico: "This is not funny." (pours alcohol on the cut)

This episode made me vow to always keep a pad and paper in my pocket. No more english blunders will go undocumented!

Thanksgiving photos

I pulled some photos from MF's profile (thanks M).

Classic.

Jammin'.
"Rocky Mountain High" sounds AWESOME with a banjo.

This is the very beginning of the sweat lodge. The blue tarp covers the wooden frame, and was further insulated with the white plastic in the background. The fire was built just to the left of the lodge, and all the wood to the left of the people was burned, plus some more. It was a big fire.

My aunt and two bocce balls. The author has no further comment.

Where the gold Chanterelle grows.

Chanterelle

Here's a photo of some Chanterelle mushrooms I harvested from a Google images search. Also, I had misspelled the word in my previous entry. The proper spelling is "Chanterelle" not "Chantrelle."

Today was our first official day of staff training at the shop, so I finally got to meet all of my co-workers. Among them, four are 6+ year veteran ski instructors with credentials coming out their ears, one is actively competing on the freeskier championship tour, one is an ex-racer who was injured last year or would be living off earnings solely from racing, others have lived and worked in Whistler for 10+ years, etc. etc. etc. It's ridiculous, really. I mean, I feel like the country bumpkin in the big city. But I'm stoaked because I'll have the opportunity to learn a lot this winter.

Contact Info

I have obtained a Canada phone number, and I have a shipping address. Some of you have this information already. If I did not send you this information and you would like it, and possibly feel slighted that I didn't call you straightaway to let you know, I'm very sorry. If it's any consolation, I only sent it to my mother and people who have asked for it specifically.

So there's no need to get your knickerbockers in a frenzy over the matter, just fire me an email and if you're not one of my many stalkers I'll send you the info.

Cheers from the North,

Andrew